C/P from multiple sources (Verge, CNN Buisness, Reuters, TechCrunch)
Wed October 21, 2020

PayPal has entered the cryptocurrency market, announcing that its customers will be able to buy and sell Bitcoin and other virtual currencies using their PayPal accounts.

The other cryptocurrencies to be added first will be Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash (a spin-off from Bitcoin).
Other payment firms, such as Square's Cash app and Revolut, have already offered cryptocurrencies for sale. But PayPal has been one of the largest merchant networks in the world.

But it is not PayPal's first venture into the area.
The firm was once a partner in Facebook's digital currency Libra, but became the first to pull out of the alliance, just a few months after it was announced.
The scheme was controversial, attracting attention from financial regulators in several countries.


PayPal says its new service will give customers the ability to hold and exchange Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin cryptocurrencies using the company's digital wallet, which lets people shop online, request and send money.

The company's US customers will receive crypto service access in the coming weeks, but they won't be able to pay for products and services using cryptocurrency until early 2021.
PayPal's Venmo customers and select international consumers won't have crypto services until some time in the first half of 2021.

Investors responded positively to the news Wednesday, as PayPal's (PYPL) stock price surged following opening bell before retreating close to where it opened for the day.
The company's stock has more than doubled since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States in mid-March.

The pandemic has fueled a boom in the online payments industry and companies like PayPal, Square (SQ) and Venmo -- which is owned by PayPal -- because many coronavirus-wary consumers are avoiding the use of physical cash.